gerry 'theranger' obrien of conkers

Friday the 21st of October 2011 marked my last working day at Conkers, 4 yrs & 4 months after I first started in June 2007. Throughout my time there I gained much firsthand experience in practical conservation work and delivering high quality environmental education programmes to groups of all ages and abilities. I also had the opportunity to lead volunteers, consult with corporate groups and network with outside professional bodies. It was a steep learning curve for me and one that I enjoyed immensely, I leave with a slight sadness but a strong feeling that it's the right step to take, my apprenticeship has been served!

As for next steps I'm not 100% sure just yet, I've been taking some time out, doing some agency work whilst I weight up my options. Whatever I go on to do will be done with the drive, determination & passion to make a positive environmental difference, I'll carry on educating on the beauty of the natural world and having lots of wildlife adventures. Stay tuned...!

Lately I have been having a bit of turmoil in my life so I decided it was time for some much needed wildlife adventure to help take my mind off things and to nourish my soul. It is afterall when I am having these adventures that I am at my happiest. Along with two adventurous friends we headed to the high moors of the Peak District, our mission was to find the Red Deers resident in this area and hopefully observe some of the rutting action undertaken by these magnificent creatures at this time of year.

Once up on the moors all else was forgotten, it was a stunning day and I was totally immersed in my surroundings, at peace with the wild and rugged landscape. As we explored we had some fantastic sightings of Red Grouse breaking from the heather and our excitement mounted as we heard the bellowing calls of the Red Deer Stags carrying over the moorland. We managed to locate a herd and got to within perhaps 500 metres, however due to the open terrain we could not move closer without driving them away. It was still enjoyable observing the stag with his harem of females. He bellowed constantly to claim ownership over them and to lay down his claim to some of his would be challangers that roamed nearby.
After quite a while observing this particular herd we backtracked slightly and managed to find another small herd, this time, another majestic stag with 7 hinds. Due to some covering mounds of heather we could get much closer and got to within about 200m after some belly crawling across the moor. The deer were perfectly aware of our presence but seemed to put up with it as long as we didn't encroach further.

It felt brilliant to get this close to truly wild deer and we marvelled at their beauty as the setting sun glistened off their hides. The stag was a magnificent specimen, in prime physical condition, perfectly attuned to his environment and he seemed secure in control of his harem. Perhaps he had already seen off any would be contenders and now was ready for the mating rights he had earned. Once we had got our fill of observation we slowly retreated and left them in peace to settle down for the night.

As we trekked back down through the moorland in the fading light, we all basked in the glow of another great wildlife adventure and I must admit I felt more at peace with the world than I have done for a long time!

*Thanks once again to my wildlife photographer friend Ian Kenny for the use of his stunning photographs. Top work Ian, got to be some awards coming your way soon :)

Health & Safety is perhaps the most important aspect of any job role and it is certainly no different for park rangers. Daily at Conkers the ranger team have to carry out safety checks on the assault course, barefoot walk and childrens playground as well as constant checks along the woodland trails for fallen branches, encroaching nettles, brambles etc. We are the eyes and ears of the park and no matter what task we may be carrying out, health & safety issues are always at the forefront of our mind!

Carrying out a safety inspection along the activity trail (assault course) is a great way to start the day. Each obstacle is checked thoroughly and our techniques for clearing them can be refined, making us a fit and active ranger team. The assault course has 18 obstacles including a suspension bridge, zip line, scramble pyramid & cargo netting as well as monkey bars and climbing towers to test upper body strenght. It is a testing challange and is a feauture of the park enjoyed by our many visitors!
Timed challanges are not actively encouraged as they heighten injury risk, however we play host to a fathers day challange every year to give all the competitive dads a chance to impress their children. Needless to say, it gets highly entertaining!

So if you are planning a visit to Conkers over the coming weeks or months do give the activity trail challange a go and enjoy a well earned drink by the lakeside afterwards! The current record stands at 4 minutes & 4 seconds, no pressure...

Recently I've had the pleasure of visiting Gigrin farm near the town of Rhayader in mid Wales to observe the Red Kite Feeding & Rehabilitation Center. Red Kites are stunning raptors that have suffered from centuries of persecution in Europe, leading to their extermination in most of the British Isles by the end of the 19th century.
Only in rural mid Wales did a few resident pairs of Kites manage to hang on, luckily around this time some visionary landowners had the foresight to set up an unofficial protection programme to try and safeguard the population. Over the next 100 yrs generations of commited landowners, dedicated individuals and organisations such as the Welsh Red Kite Trust & the RSPB helped the population to gradually increase in numbers. Gigrin farm became the official Red Kite Feeding Station in the Winter of 1992/93 and has helped establish mid Wales as a stronghold for raptors in the British Isles. Kites that have been rehabilitated at Gigrin have been re-introduced to other parts of Britain & Ireland and now thankfully this magnificent bird is becoming a more common sight in our skies once again!

Red Kites are distinctive because of their forked tails and striking colour, their wingspan is almost 2 meters wide but they have a relatively small body in comparison (weighing only 2-3Ibs) this makes the bird incredibly agile and to observe from close range a flock of 70 plus swooping, scavaging and feeding in flight is an incredible sight! Add to this feeding frenzy, visits from Buzzards, Ravens and Crows and you have truly a spectacular wildlife spectacle, I'd highly recommend it!

*Red Kite picture has been kindly donated to me by my wildlife adventure companion, Ian Kenny who is a multi award winning event and wildlife photographer! You can follow Ian on Twitter @Kenny_photo or check out his blog www.professionaleventphotographer.net
We're already planning our next wildlife adventures...

Recently I have been lucky enough to happen upon a colony of Glow- worms within easy walking distance of my house. Subsequent research and observation has taught me a lot about this fascinating insect, Britain's only representative of the firefly family. They are however neither flies nor worms but members of the order of beetles.
First off, it is only virgin females that glow, all with the intention of attracting a mate. Her light organs are set on her underside so she often has to twist her abdomen to make sure any males flying past will see her lights. If she has not been successful in attracting a mate after a couple of hours she will turn off her lights and save her energy for a repeat performance the following night.
Sadly after ten days or so if she has not mated she will die of exhaustion, however if she has successfully mated she will still die but not until after she has discharged her eggs to produce the next generation. Unlike the female male glow-worms can fly and they will fly low to the ground in search of displaying females, they too will die once mating is over!
The eggs are laid under vegetation and will take about 35 days to hatch into larva. Once hatched the glow-worm larva eats constantly insuring a rapid growth rate, surprisingly they feed on slugs and snails much bigger than them by delivering a powerful poison that paralysis their prey and turns them into an easily digestable soup.
As Winter approaches the larva will hibernate and will emerge even hungrier than ever, they will feed all year before hibernating for the second time. Once emerged in the Spring, it will feed again until early summer when it is finally ready to pupate. Pupation takes just over a week and by mid-June the first glowing females should be displaying in their quest to find a mating partner.

The Bee Orchid is a unique plant with three pink/mauve wings and a central hairy brown 'bee' body. The flower of the orchid also produces a scent like a female bee and so it has evolved to attract male bees that will pollinate the plant whilst trying trying to mate with it, pretty clever!

Recently we have recorded Bee Orchids at Conkers for the first time which is exciting because unfortunately the species is declining nationwide and the species of bee that the flower evolved to attract is also no longer in the British Isles, it is thought now that the plant only produces asexually.

The flower of the Bee Orchid is the culmination of up to 8 yrs growth and if picked the plant is unlikely to flower again and will also have lost it's only chance of producing seeds. So please, if you see one of these beautiful plants, admire it's beauty, take a photogrraph, marvel at it's evolution and leave it for others to enjoy, it is afterall nature at it's best!

Butterflies are recognised as biodiversity indicators, showcasing the health of wildlife and the countryside. Unfortunately butterfly numbers worldwide have been declining over the last few decades highlighting the many environmental problems we now face. In Britain alone 23 species of butterfly are considered to be regionally extinct or endangered and a further 11 species are classified as near threatened, leaving only 45% of British butterflies considered to be safe at present.

However, increased demand for woodfuel may offer hope for the future. Across the National Forest many of the new forest plantations will be harvested sustainably using traditional management techniques such as coppicing and pollarding. This will create different stages of growth within woodlands and open up glades which will allow ground flora to develop, offering feeding and refuge opportunities for many species.

We have already seen evidence of positive turnaround within our coppicing cycle at Conkers and we now hope to expand this positivity into the wider National Forest. Recently we have been networking with the East Midlands branch of Butterfly Conservation in the hope of building up strong populations of priority species. For example Dingy Skippers, a regionally and nationally scarce species have been recorded on our site and it is hoped that with consultation from experts we can carry out extensive and suitable land management to help them thrive. This in turn will have a knock on positive impact as work benefitting one species can make a contribution to a whole range of other species.
Perhaps with time we may even share space with vast numbers of butterflies once again!

* Thanks to my buddy Ian Kenny for supplying some fantastic butterfly photographs to the Conkers ranger department : )

I have worked as a ranger at the Heart of the National Forest for almost four years now. It has been a steep learning curve for me and one that I have enjoyed immensely. Spending my days in the emerging forest are a pleasure so more often than not it doesn't feel like i'm working!

One of the highlights of my job is the sheer variety of tasks that I partake in. Working at a busy visitor center, leading guided walks and education group visits takes up a huge percentage of my time espechially in the busy Spring & Summer seasons. Every group is different however and on a daily basis I adapt between primary school & secondary school children of all ages, Special needs groups, College & University students, Corporate Delegates and members of the general public. Adaptability is key and catering to the knowledge level and requirments of your group becomes instinctive after a while.

I also love working on the upkeep of the park which we concentrate heavily on in the Winter season with a variety of tasks such as Woodland & Wetland management, traditional fence weaving, stocking up on woodfuel and general repair and maintenance work.

On a daily basis throughout the year we carry out Health & Safety checks, wildlife monitoring and of course we interact with our customers and deal with situations as they arise. We have even had some exciting wildlife rescue experiences ranging from Rabbits, Geese, Swans, Coots, Moorhens, Muntjac Deer, a Buzzard and a magnificent Peregrine Falcon that crash landed in our service yard. There is never a dull day!
In my spare time I branch out across the wider Forest region to deliver talks about Conkers and the National Forest. I normally bring one of the captive bred owls I look after so that I can talk indepth about the species and conservation concerns surrounding them. I also volunteer for the RSPB and have led guided walks at the beautiful Coombes Valley nature reserve in Staffordshire and visited schools as part of the Bird Friendly School Project. In short I don't really have a lot of spare time these days, one of the only drawbacks is it's hard to take your ranger hat off and switch off! I wouldn't have it any other way however, I feel now I have finally found my vocation and am well aware of the fact that once you find a job you love you never have to work again!

blog post by philcampbell of me.dm

after dropping ella back to sam yesterday i headed up to the heart of the national forest at conkers to meet up with gerry obrian, the ranger at conkers to discuss some locations of the potential ark project - http://helpbuildtheark.com (we still need your donations - and if your a business please ask us for our media pack) within the grounds as part of a year long project about technology, energy creation and consumption.

originally we had planned to put the ark at the university of nottingham which would have been fantastic for the internet streaming and give us great bandwidth but after multiple gut insticts and general feedback it made us realise that the eco credentials that a project like this requires means need to concentrate on the actual context of the content.  the ark and experience should be primary to everything, the streaming and tech side should come afterwards.

having to be creative in terms of getting internet (we have some wifi at the site) is actually quite a challenge and we went up onto the roof to have a look at line of sight and potential bouncing locations for firing a chunkier internet connection via radio or even laser alignment and bouncing that again from a higher structure into the ark. we had a really productive and planning afternoon.

i also totally forgot how awesome the carvery is at the waterside part of conkers.  honestly, if you fancy a walk in the countryside with a nice coffee and a lovely sunday dinner you should really go and check it out.   having this onsite is one of the many plus points to a location in or nearby the national forest.

i'm currently putting together a proper business case study and altering the media pack before getting together for a meeting and presentation at conkers about my social media journey and how the project could potentially bring in worldwide attention to the centre of the national forest.

*update*

phil also shot a bunch of 360 virtual pictures and shots while he was on site. .

the ampitheatre at conkers

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outside the media centre

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waterside cafe area - awesome carvery
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looking out across the main centre area
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proposed site one of the ark

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